1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a securing device for carts, in particular for shopping carts.
The term "carts" is understood hereinafter to include all hand-propelled vehicles which have a pusher, generally in the form of a tubular push handle, and can be inserted into one another in a known manner, such as shopping carts used in supermarkets, baggage carts that are made available to travelers in train stations or airports, and the like. Often, a large number of carts are coupled together; the first cart is generally properly parked at a stationary central point, and all the following carts are connected to the last properly parked, coupled cart in succession.
At pickup points, such as in the entry area of self-service stores, airports or train stations, a token must be introduced into the securing device of the most recently coupled cart in order to uncouple it; the token is not returned until the cart, no longer needed, is properly coupled at an intended central point, preferably to a cart already coupled there.
2. The Prior Art
One such securing device for carts, in particular shopping carts, is described in European Patent Application 286 460, for example. In this securing device, a lock of a coin-operated vending apparatus has two identically embodied levers, which are disposed symmetrically to an imaginary center line of the securing device and are each pivotable about an axis. The two end regions of the two levers are embodied such that one set of ends performs a coin testing function, and once a coin has been introduced performs a coin holding function, while the opposite ends of the two levers are hook-like, so that they fit into suitably embodied notches in the blank of a key introduced into the lock. When, at a central point or at a properly coupled cart, a key is introduced into the securing device of the cart to be parked, the introduced key is held in the locked position by the two cooperating, identically embodied levers; at the same time, the coin introduced when the cart is picked up is released.
In practice tensile strains are exerted upon the securing devices of individual carts via the keys introduced and the chains, to the free ends of which a key is attached. If a correspondingly high tensile strain is now exerted upon the securing device of a properly parked cart by the cart preceding it or by other carts, this tensile strain is transmitted via the key to the two pivotable levers of the securing devices of the cart being uncoupled.
When a cart is to be uncoupled, a considerable tensile strain is being exerted, upon the securing device including the two levers. To relieve this strain a contrary force must be brought to bear via the coin to be introduced such that the two levers of this securing device release the retained key to a sufficient extent that the key is no longer firmly retained. Then cart, can be properly removed from the securing device in which the coin has been introduced. Often, however, the tensile strain exerted upon the two levers of such a securing device is so strong that the levers cannot be released by pressing the coin inward. Instead, the tensile strain with respect to the next cart or carts in succession can often be reduced only by forcefully pushing the carts together, at least to such an extent that the coin is introduced into the securing device of the last cart, unlocking the key, and thus permitting the last cart in line to be uncoupled. Proceeding in this way is often very strenuous and tedious especially for women.